In the ruins: Lady Moongazer

By the light of the sun
Failing children of the blood
They are breaking through
O' children of the blood

- Lament of the Highborne

From the journal of Melisandra of Ashenvale:

Once upon a time, in ages long past, Azeroth was dominated by one giant continent. Old Kalimdor was a vast land, covered in primal forests and stunning plains, where the ancient Kaldorei built their civilization. But due to the arrogance and madness of Queen Azshara and the ruling nobles (who dubbed themselves the "highborne" to show their self-proclaimed superiority), that world ended with the Sundering. Yet many traces of the Highborne still linger in today's world. And sometimes the ghosts of the past still haunt the land.

This entry concerns Lady Moongazer.



The haunted land

Lady Moongazer can be found in Darkshore, in Kalimdor.



This ghostly woman can be found wandering the ruined town of Ameth'Aran. She will often be found at the back of the ruins, away from the road, among the many highborne ghosts of the area. Unlike the other spirits of the ruins, Lady Moongazer and Anaya Dawnrunner appear mostly as they did in life, albeit translucent and ghostly.



Although the two often wander close together, you can easily tell Lady Moongazer from Anaya even at a glance. Moongazer is hostile, whereas Anaya is neutral and will not attack unless attacked first. Moongazer has a long-sleeved dress with large black fields, whereas Anaya has a sleeveless dress with orange fields. Anaya is also barefoot.

The Lay of Ameth'Aran

When the world was torn asunder, the town of Ameth'Aran was one of the casualties. Many of its inhabintants perished and now haunt the ruins, even ten thousand years later. Lady Moongazer is most likely such a Highborne spirit, still restless after all these years. The fact that she carries the title "lady" (as I said earlier, many of the races spawned of the Highborne have a fondness for noble titles) seems to further corroborate this.



In life, I believe Moongazer was a huntress either for sport or for a living. Why? Well, her spirit does not simply rush into melee as many of the other spirits in the area do. Instead she nets you to the ground and proceeds to pepper you with arrows from afar. If you are not ready for this take care, especially if pursuit will result in more restless ghosts joining the fight.



Likely Lady Moongazer perished like most of the people of Ameth'Aran when their city was cast into ruins. Was she a supporter of Azshara, or did she oppose the schemes of the queen? We'll probably never know. I would believe that Moongazer had an unusually strong will, or something that anchors her to the world, only to explain why she hasn't lost her identity the way most of the undead of the area have.



Did she know Anaya? Were they friends, enemies? So many lives, so many stories wiped out at once. We know only her name, and that she haunts the place where she once lived. Not even her possessions give us any clues, as they are just generic items of little value.

Should you visit Ameth'Aran during your travels, take a moment to remember the Highborne, not as the vengeful spirits of terrible villains of legend... but as people. People who once, like us, lived, and laughed and cried. Now they are nothing but names.

Names and shadows.

Melisandra

((OOC ramble: This entry is me trying something different. As I was writing this I realized I was slipping into a more in-character type entry at several points. Now, some of you have suggested I try to put a little fiction into this journal, and this is my attempt at providing you with an entry that is both informative and a bit fictionalized. Did I succeed? I don't know, you tell me.

Not every entry will be like this, probably not even that many of them. It's an experiment, and we'll see if it pans out.

Until next time.
~Dragonshade ))